Cloud application design for efficient troubleshooting

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods include providing functionality for the user device while operating in background on the user device including providing secure connectivity with a cloud-based system over a network; continuously collecting packets intercepted by the enterprise application over a time interval, wherein the collected packets are collected over the time interval; and responsive to an issue with functionality of the enterprise application, transmitting the collected packets to a back end server for troubleshooting of the issue. The time interval is a set amount of time, and each collected packet is deleted at the expiration of the time interval.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present disclosure is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/375,338, filed Jul. 14, 2021 and entitled “Cloud applicationdesign for efficient troubleshooting,” which is a continuation-in-partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/992,281, filed Aug. 13, 2020 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 11,070,578 which issues on Jul. 20, 2021), and entitled“Packet dump utility in a mobile application for efficienttroubleshooting,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/658,264, filed Oct. 21, 2019 (now U.S. Pat. No.11,070,649, which issues on Jul. 20, 2021, and entitled “Cloudapplication design for efficient troubleshooting,” which claims priorityto Indian Patent Application No. 201911035742, filed Sep. 5, 2019, andentitled “Cloud application design for efficient troubleshooting,” thecontents of each are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to networking and computing.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methodsfor cloud application design for efficient troubleshooting.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The number of user devices that connect to the Internet and enterprisenetworks is exploding. Also, the distinction between private networks(enterprise networks) and the Internet is becoming blurred as fastwireless access (e.g., 5G) and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)proliferates. Simply put, there is a tremendous number of user devicesthat are on or have access to secure resources on enterprise networksand which execute enterprise applications. As described herein, a userdevice can include a mobile device, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, adesktop, etc. An enterprise application is one which is executed on theuser device for enabling some functionality such as cloud applicationaccess, enterprise access, Internet access, etc. An example of anenterprise application is the ZApp (also called Client Connector) fromZscaler, Inc. which is used to provide a distributed security cloudservice for Internet access as well as granular policy-based access tointernal resources. Of course, there can be other types of enterpriseapplications, enabling various enterprise or cloud applications.

There is a range of issues that a user could run into with an enterpriseapplication. Enterprise applications tend to behave abnormally onnetwork changes, network connectivity issues, after waking up fromsleep, etc. Issues with an enterprise application are significant as itleads to poor Quality of Experience, prevents network or resourceaccess, etc. That is, the cloud is supposed to improve user experience,accessibility, etc., and issues with the enabling tools are critical toresolve. When a user faces an issue, the user reaches out to report theproblem so that it can be looked into by the enterprise support of theapplication. A support engineer can then troubleshoot the problem basedon the reported description or application logs. When there are issues,application-level logging is not sufficient to help the support teamdebug a wide range of issues. Depending on the problem, some of theinformation may not be available in the logs or required real-timeinformation when the problem was seen. As a result, this can requirelive debug sessions to help the support team understand the issue andthen take steps to resolve this. This is not efficient and causesadditional delay in getting the right information from the user. Thesituation worsens when the issue is sporadic and not reproducible atwill.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an embodiment, a method and computer-readable code stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readablecode provide steps for a user device to execute an enterpriseapplication. The steps include providing functionality for the userdevice while operating in background on the user device includingproviding secure connectivity with a cloud-based system over a network;continuously collecting packets intercepted by the enterpriseapplication over a time interval, wherein the collected packets arecollected over the time interval; and responsive to an issue withfunctionality of the enterprise application, transmitting the collectedpackets to a back end server for troubleshooting of the issue. The timeinterval is a set amount of time, and each collected packet is deletedat the expiration of the time interval. The steps can include,responsive to the issue with the functionality of the enterpriseapplication, presenting a user of the user device a list of a pluralityof issue types, related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication, for selection thereof and receiving a selection from theuser of an issue type for the issue; and collecting data, includingcontext-specific information, from the user device, the context-specificinformation being based on the selected issue type received from theuser and being related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication. The collected data can be different for each of theplurality of issue types. The enterprise application can be one of oneor more of monitoring, antivirus, firewall, and Virtual PrivateNetworking (VPN) with the cloud-based system. The issue can include anyof Domain Name System (DNS) resolution, system overheating, systemslowness, abnormal battery drain, and system crashes. The collectedpackets can be in a PCAP format.

In an embodiment, a method and computer-readable code stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readablecode provide steps for a user device to execute an enterpriseapplication. The steps include providing functionality for the userdevice while operating in background on the user device; responsive to auser request, starting collection of packets intercepted by theenterprise application; storing the collected packets on the userdevice; receiving a selection from the user of an issue type of aplurality of issue types for an issue; and providing the issue type andthe collected packets for debugging of the issue type. The steps canfurther include collecting data from the user device based on theselected issue type. The steps can further include transmitting thecollected data and the collected packets to a back end server fortroubleshooting of the issue. The functionality can be one or more ofmonitoring, antivirus, firewall, and Virtual Private Networking (VPN).The functionality can be performed with a cloud-based system over thenetwork. The plurality of issue types can include any of Domain NameSystem (DNS) resolution, system overheating, system slowness, abnormalbattery drain, and system crashes. The collected data can be differentfor each of the plurality of issue types. The collected packets can bein a PCAP format.

In another embodiment, a user device includes a network interfacecommunicatively coupled to a network; a processor communicativelycoupled to the network interface; and memory storing computer-executableinstructions for an enterprise application that, when executed, causethe processor to provide functionality for the user device whileoperating in background on the user device; responsive to a userrequest, start collection of packets intercepted by the enterpriseapplication; store the collected packets on the user device; receive aselection from the user of an issue type of a plurality of issue typesfor an issue; and provide the issue type and the collected packets fordebugging of the issue type.

In an embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumincludes computer-readable code stored thereon for programming a userdevice to execute an enterprise application that performs steps ofproviding functionality for the user device while operating inbackground on the user device; responsive to an issue with thefunctionality of the enterprise application and presenting a user of theuser device a list of a plurality of issue types for selection thereof,receiving a selection from the user of an issue type for the issue; andcollecting data from the user device based on the selected issue type.The computer-readable code stored thereon can be further programmedperforms steps of transmitting the collected data to a back end serverfor troubleshooting of the issue.

The functionality can be one or more of monitoring, antivirus, firewall,and Virtual Private Networking (VPN). The functionality can be performedwith a cloud-based system over the network. The plurality of issue typescan include any of Domain Name System (DNS) resolution, systemoverheating, system slowness, abnormal battery drain, and systemcrashes. The collected data can be different for each of the pluralityof issue types. The collected data can be captured while the issue isoccurring to assist in troubleshooting thereof.

In another embodiment, a user device includes a network interfacecommunicatively coupled to a network; a processor communicativelycoupled to the network interface; and memory storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to providefunctionality for the user device while operating in background on theuser device, responsive to an issue with the functionality of theenterprise application and with a user of the user device presented alist of a plurality of issue types for selection thereof, receiveselection from the user of an issue type for the issue, and collect datafrom the user device based on the selected issue type.

In a further embodiment, a method implemented by an enterpriseapplication includes providing functionality for a user device whileoperating in background on the user device; responsive to an issue withthe functionality of the enterprise application and presenting a user ofthe user device a list of a plurality of issue types for selectionthereof, receiving a selection from the user of an issue type for theissue; and collecting data from the user device based on the selectedissue type

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated and described herein withreference to the various drawings, in which like reference numbers areused to denote like system components/method steps, as appropriate, andin which:

FIG. 1A is a network diagram of a cloud-based system offering securityas a service;

FIG. 1B is a network diagram of an example implementation of thecloud-based system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a server that may be used in thecloud-based system of FIGS. 1A and 1B or the like;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a user device that may be used with thecloud-based system of FIGS. 1A and 1B or the like;

FIG. 4 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system illustrating anapplication on user devices with users configured to operate through thecloud-based system;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an enterprise application troubleshootingprocess; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a list of problems and a mapping ofdata collected based thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for cloudapplication design for efficient troubleshooting. The present disclosureincludes the incorporation of specific troubleshooting data flows when auser is facing issues. These flows would automatically interact with theuser's current network/local system and gather relevant information, forcontext-specific troubleshoot information. The context-specifictroubleshoot information would be helpful in debugging the problem andfinding the root cause without requiring any additional session with theuser. Since a significant number of issues are not always reproduciblepredictably, this has an added advantage of capturing the data when theissue is happening.

Example Cloud-Based System

FIG. 1A is a network diagram of a cloud-based system 100 offeringsecurity as a service. Specifically, the cloud-based system 100 canoffer a Secure Internet and Web Gateway as a service to various users102, as well as other cloud services. In this manner, the cloud-basedsystem 100 is located between the users 102 and the Internet as well asany cloud services 106 (or applications) accessed by the users 102. Assuch, the cloud-based system 100 provides inline monitoring inspectingtraffic between the users 102, the Internet 104, and the cloud services106, including Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) traffic. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can offer access control, threat prevention, data protection,etc. The access control can include a cloud-based firewall, cloud-basedintrusion detection, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) filtering, bandwidthcontrol, Domain Name System (DNS) filtering, etc. The threat preventioncan include cloud-based intrusion prevention, protection againstadvanced threats (malware, spam, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), phishing,etc.), cloud-based sandbox, antivirus, DNS security, etc. The dataprotection can include Data Loss Prevention (DLP), cloud applicationsecurity such as via Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), file typecontrol, etc.

The cloud-based firewall can provide Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) andaccess controls across various ports and protocols as well as beingapplication and user aware. The URL filtering can block, allow, or limitwebsite access based on policy for a user, group of users, or entireorganization, including specific destinations or categories of URLs(e.g., gambling, social media, etc.). The bandwidth control can enforcebandwidth policies and prioritize critical applications such as relativeto recreational traffic. DNS filtering can control and block DNSrequests against known and malicious destinations.

The cloud-based intrusion prevention and advanced threat protection candeliver full threat protection against malicious content such as browserexploits, scripts, identified botnets and malware callbacks, etc. Thecloud-based sandbox can block zero-day exploits (just identified) byanalyzing unknown files for malicious behavior. Advantageously, thecloud-based system 100 is multi-tenant and can service a large volume ofthe users 102. As such, newly discovered threats can be promulgatedthroughout the cloud-based system 100 for all tenants practicallyinstantaneously. The antivirus protection can include antivirus,antispyware, antimalware, etc. protection for the users 102, usingsignatures sourced and constantly updated. The DNS security can identifyand route command-and-control connections to threat detection enginesfor full content inspection.

The DLP can use standard and/or custom dictionaries to continuouslymonitor the users 102, including compressed and/or SSL-encryptedtraffic. Again, being in a cloud implementation, the cloud-based system100 can scale this monitoring with near-zero latency on the users 102.The cloud application security can include CASB functionality todiscover and control user access to known and unknown cloud services106. The file type controls enable true file type control by the user,location, destination, etc. to determine which files are allowed or not.

For illustration purposes, the users 102 of the cloud-based system 100can include a mobile device 110, a headquarters (HQ) 112 which caninclude or connect to a data center (DC) 114, Internet of Things (IoT)devices 116, a branch office/remote location 118, etc., and eachincludes one or more user devices (an example user device 300 isillustrated in FIG. 3). The devices 110, 116, and the locations 112,114, 118 are shown for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in theart will recognize there are various access scenarios and other users102 for the cloud-based system 100, all of which are contemplatedherein. The users 102 can be associated with a tenant, which may includean enterprise, a corporation, an organization, etc. That is, a tenant isa group of users who share a common access with specific privileges tothe cloud-based system 100, a cloud service, etc. In an embodiment, theheadquarters 112 can include an enterprise's network with resources inthe data center 114. The mobile device 110 can be a so-called roadwarrior, i.e., users that are off-site, on-the-road, etc. Further, thecloud-based system 100 can be multi-tenant, with each tenant having itsown users 102 and configuration, policy, rules, etc. One advantage ofthe multi-tenancy and a large volume of users is the zero-day/zero-hourprotection in that a new vulnerability can be detected and theninstantly remediated across the entire cloud-based system 100. The sameapplies to policy, rule, configuration, etc. changes—they are instantlyremediated across the entire cloud-based system 100. As well, newfeatures in the cloud-based system 100 can also be rolled upsimultaneously across the user base, as opposed to selective andtime-consuming upgrades on every device at the locations 112, 114, 118,and the devices 110, 116.

Logically, the cloud-based system 100 can be viewed as an overlaynetwork between users (at the locations 112, 114, 118, and the devices110, 106) and the Internet 104 and the cloud services 106. Previously,the IT deployment model included enterprise resources and applicationsstored within the data center 114 (i.e., physical devices) behind afirewall (perimeter), accessible by employees, partners, contractors,etc. on-site or remote via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), etc. Thecloud-based system 100 is replacing the conventional deployment model.The cloud-based system 100 can be used to implement these services inthe cloud without requiring the physical devices and management thereofby enterprise IT administrators. As an ever-present overlay network, thecloud-based system 100 can provide the same functions as the physicaldevices and/or appliances regardless of geography or location of theusers 102, as well as independent of platform, operating system, networkaccess technique, network access provider, etc.

There are various techniques to forward traffic between the users 102 atthe locations 112, 114, 118, and via the devices 110, 116, and thecloud-based system 100. Typically, the locations 112, 114, 118 can usetunneling where all traffic is forward through the cloud-based system100. For example, various tunneling protocols are contemplated, such asGeneric Routing Encapsulation (GRE), Layer Two Tunneling Protocol(L2TP), Internet Protocol (IP) Security (IPsec), customized tunnelingprotocols, etc. The devices 110, 116 can use a local application thatforwards traffic, a proxy such as via a Proxy Auto-Config (PAC) file,and the like. A key aspect of the cloud-based system 100 is all trafficbetween the users 102 and the Internet 104 or the cloud services 106 isvia the cloud-based system 100. As such, the cloud-based system 100 hasvisibility to enable various functions, all of which are performed offthe user device in the cloud.

The cloud-based system 100 can also include a management system 120 fortenant access to provide global policy and configuration as well asreal-time analytics. This enables IT administrators to have a unifiedview of user activity, threat intelligence, application usage, etc. Forexample, IT administrators can drill-down to a per-user level tounderstand events and correlate threats, to identify compromiseddevices, to have application visibility, and the like. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can further include connectivity to an Identity Provider(IDP) 122 for authentication of the users 102 and to a SecurityInformation and Event Management (SIEM) system 124 for event logging.The system 124 can provide alert and activity logs on a per-user 102basis.

FIG. 1B is a network diagram of an example implementation of thecloud-based system 100. In an embodiment, the cloud-based system 100includes a plurality of enforcement nodes (EN) 150, labeled asenforcement nodes 150-1, 150-2, 150-N, interconnected to one another andinterconnected to a central authority (CA) 152. The nodes 150, 152,while described as nodes, can include one or more servers, includingphysical servers, virtual machines (VM) executed on physical hardware,etc. That is, a single node 150, 152 can be a cluster of devices. Anexample of a server is illustrated in FIG. 2. The cloud-based system 100further includes a log router 154 that connects to a storage cluster 156for supporting log maintenance from the enforcement nodes 150. Thecentral authority 152 provide centralized policy, real-time threatupdates, etc. and coordinates the distribution of this data between theenforcement nodes 150. The enforcement nodes 150 provide an onramp tothe users 102 and are configured to execute policy, based on the centralauthority 152, for each user 102. The enforcement nodes 150 can begeographically distributed, and the policy for each user 102 followsthat user 102 as he or she connects to the nearest (or other criteria)enforcement node 150.

The enforcement nodes 150 are full-featured secure internet gatewaysthat provide integrated internet security. They inspect all web trafficbi-directionally for malware and enforce security, compliance, andfirewall policies, as described herein. In an embodiment, eachenforcement node 150 has two main modules for inspecting traffic andapplying policies: a web module and a firewall module. The enforcementnodes 150 are deployed around the world and can handle hundreds ofthousands of concurrent users with millions of concurrent sessions.Because of this, regardless of where the users 102 are, they can accessthe Internet 104 from any device, and the enforcement nodes 150 protectthe traffic and apply corporate policies. The enforcement nodes 150 canimplement various inspection engines therein, and optionally, sendsandboxing to another system. The enforcement nodes 150 includesignificant fault tolerance capabilities, such as deployment inactive-active mode to ensure availability and redundancy as well ascontinuous monitoring.

In an embodiment, customer traffic is not passed to any other componentwithin the cloud-based system 100, and the enforcement nodes 150 can beconfigured never to store any data to disk. Packet data is held inmemory for inspection and then, based on policy, is either forwarded ordropped. Log data generated for every transaction is compressed,tokenized, and exported over secure TLS connections to the log routers154 that direct the logs to the storage cluster 156, hosted in theappropriate geographical region, for each organization.

The central authority 152 hosts all customer (tenant) policy andconfiguration settings. It monitors the cloud and provides a centrallocation for software and database updates and threat intelligence.Given the multi-tenant architecture, the central authority 152 isredundant and backed up in multiple different data centers. Theenforcement nodes 150 establish persistent connections to the centralauthority 152 to download all policy configurations. When a new userconnects to an enforcement node 150, a policy request is sent to thecentral authority 152 through this connection. The central authority 152then calculates the policies that apply to that user 102 and sends thepolicy to the enforcement node 150 as a highly compressed bitmap.

Once downloaded, a tenant's policy is cached until a policy change ismade in the management system 120. When this happens, all of the cachedpolicies are purged, and the enforcement nodes 150 request the newpolicy when the user 102 next makes a request. In an embodiment, theenforcement node 150 exchange “heartbeats” periodically, so allenforcement nodes 150 are informed when there is a policy change. Anyenforcement node 150 can then pull the change in policy when it sees anew request.

The cloud-based system 100 can be a private cloud, a public cloud, acombination of a private cloud and a public cloud (hybrid cloud), or thelike. Cloud computing systems and methods abstract away physicalservers, storage, networking, etc., and instead offer these as on-demandand elastic resources. The National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) provides a concise and specific definition whichstates cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demandnetwork access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources(e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orservice provider interaction. Cloud computing differs from the classicclient-server model by providing applications from a server that areexecuted and managed by a client's web browser or the like, with noinstalled client version of an application required. Centralizationgives cloud service providers complete control over the versions of thebrowser-based and other applications provided to clients, which removesthe need for version upgrades or license management on individual clientcomputing devices. The phrase “Software as a Service” (SaaS) issometimes used to describe application programs offered through cloudcomputing. A common shorthand for a provided cloud computing service (oreven an aggregation of all existing cloud services) is “the cloud.” Thecloud-based system 100 is illustrated herein as an example embodiment ofa cloud-based system, and other implementations are also contemplated.

As described herein, the terms cloud services and cloud applications maybe used interchangeably. The cloud service 106 is any service madeavailable to users on-demand via the Internet, as opposed to beingprovided from a company's on-premises servers. A cloud application, orcloud app, is a software program where cloud-based and local componentswork together. The cloud-based system 100 can be utilized to provideexample cloud services, including Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), ZscalerPrivate Access (ZPA), and Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), all fromZscaler, Inc. (the assignee and applicant of the present application).The ZIA service can provide the access control, threat prevention, anddata protection described above with reference to the cloud-based system100. ZPA can include access control, microservice segmentation, etc. TheZDX service can provide monitoring of user experience, e.g., Quality ofExperience (QoE), Quality of Service (QoS), etc., in a manner that cangain insights based on continuous, inline monitoring. For example, theZIA service can provide a user with Internet Access, and the ZPA servicecan provide a user with access to enterprise resources instead oftraditional Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), namely ZPA provides ZeroTrust Network Access (ZTNA). Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize various other types of cloud services 106 are alsocontemplated. Also, other types of cloud architectures are alsocontemplated, with the cloud-based system 100 presented for illustrationpurposes.

Example Server Architecture

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a server 200, which may be used in thecloud-based system 100, in other systems, or standalone. For example,the enforcement nodes 150 and the central authority 152 may be formed asone or more of the servers 200. The server 200 may be a digital computerthat, in terms of hardware architecture, generally includes a processor202, input/output (I/O) interfaces 204, a network interface 206, a datastore 208, and memory 210. It should be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art that FIG. 2 depicts the server 200 in an oversimplifiedmanner, and a practical embodiment may include additional components andsuitably configured processing logic to support known or conventionaloperating features that are not described in detail herein. Thecomponents (202, 204, 206, 208, and 210) are communicatively coupled viaa local interface 212. The local interface 212 may be, for example, butnot limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wirelessconnections, as is known in the art. The local interface 212 may haveadditional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such ascontrollers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, amongmany others, to enable communications. Further, the local interface 212may include address, control, and/or data connections to enableappropriate communications among the aforementioned components.

The processor 202 is a hardware device for executing softwareinstructions. The processor 202 may be any custom made or commerciallyavailable processor, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an auxiliaryprocessor among several processors associated with the server 200, asemiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip orchipset), or generally any device for executing software instructions.When the server 200 is in operation, the processor 202 is configured toexecute software stored within the memory 210, to communicate data toand from the memory 210, and to generally control operations of theserver 200 pursuant to the software instructions. The I/O interfaces 204may be used to receive user input from and/or for providing systemoutput to one or more devices or components.

The network interface 206 may be used to enable the server 200 tocommunicate on a network, such as the Internet 104. The networkinterface 206 may include, for example, an Ethernet card or adapter or aWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) card or adapter. The networkinterface 206 may include address, control, and/or data connections toenable appropriate communications on the network. A data store 208 maybe used to store data. The data store 208 may include any of volatilememory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM,SDRAM, and the like)), nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, harddrive, tape, CDROM, and the like), and combinations thereof. Moreover,the data store 208 may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/orother types of storage media. In one example, the data store 208 may belocated internal to the server 200, such as, for example, an internalhard drive connected to the local interface 212 in the server 200.Additionally, in another embodiment, the data store 208 may be locatedexternal to the server 200 such as, for example, an external hard driveconnected to the I/O interfaces 204 (e.g., SCSI or USB connection). In afurther embodiment, the data store 208 may be connected to the server200 through a network, such as, for example, a network-attached fileserver.

The memory 210 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)), nonvolatilememory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.), andcombinations thereof. Moreover, the memory 210 may incorporateelectronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Notethat the memory 210 may have a distributed architecture, where variouscomponents are situated remotely from one another but can be accessed bythe processor 202. The software in memory 210 may include one or moresoftware programs, each of which includes an ordered listing ofexecutable instructions for implementing logical functions. The softwarein the memory 210 includes a suitable Operating System (O/S) 214 and oneor more programs 216. The operating system 214 essentially controls theexecution of other computer programs, such as the one or more programs216, and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and datamanagement, memory management, and communication control and relatedservices. The one or more programs 216 may be configured to implementthe various processes, algorithms, methods, techniques, etc. describedherein.

Example User Device Architecture

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a user device 300, which may be used withthe cloud-based system 100 or the like. Specifically, the user device300 can form a device used by one of the users 102, and this may includecommon devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, personaldigital assistants, MP3 players, cell phones, e-book readers, IoTdevices, servers, desktops, printers, televisions, streaming mediadevices, and the like. The user device 300 can be a digital device that,in terms of hardware architecture, generally includes a processor 302,I/O interfaces 304, a network interface 306, a data store 308, andmemory 310. It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart that FIG. 3 depicts the user device 300 in an oversimplified manner,and a practical embodiment may include additional components andsuitably configured processing logic to support known or conventionaloperating features that are not described in detail herein. Thecomponents (302, 304, 306, 308, and 302) are communicatively coupled viaa local interface 312. The local interface 312 can be, for example, butnot limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wirelessconnections, as is known in the art. The local interface 312 can haveadditional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such ascontrollers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, amongmany others, to enable communications. Further, the local interface 312may include address, control, and/or data connections to enableappropriate communications among the aforementioned components.

The processor 302 is a hardware device for executing softwareinstructions. The processor 302 can be any custom made or commerciallyavailable processor, a CPU, an auxiliary processor among severalprocessors associated with the user device 300, a semiconductor-basedmicroprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chipset), or generally anydevice for executing software instructions. When the user device 300 isin operation, the processor 302 is configured to execute software storedwithin the memory 310, to communicate data to and from the memory 310,and to generally control operations of the user device 300 pursuant tothe software instructions. In an embodiment, the processor 302 mayinclude a mobile-optimized processor such as optimized for powerconsumption and mobile applications. The I/O interfaces 304 can be usedto receive user input from and/or for providing system output. Userinput can be provided via, for example, a keypad, a touch screen, ascroll ball, a scroll bar, buttons, a barcode scanner, and the like.System output can be provided via a display device such as a LiquidCrystal Display (LCD), touch screen, and the like.

The network interface 306 enables wireless communication to an externalaccess device or network. Any number of suitable wireless datacommunication protocols, techniques, or methodologies can be supportedby the network interface 306, including any protocols for wirelesscommunication. The data store 308 may be used to store data. The datastore 308 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, and the like)),nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, and thelike), and combinations thereof. Moreover, the data store 308 mayincorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storagemedia.

The memory 310 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)), nonvolatilememory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, etc.), and combinations thereof.Moreover, the memory 310 may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical,and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory 310 may have adistributed architecture, where various components are situated remotelyfrom one another, but can be accessed by the processor 302. The softwarein memory 310 can include one or more software programs, each of whichincludes an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementinglogical functions. In the example of FIG. 3, the software in the memory310 includes a suitable operating system 314 and programs 316. Theoperating system 314 essentially controls the execution of othercomputer programs and provides scheduling, input-output control, fileand data management, memory management, and communication control andrelated services. The programs 316 may include various applications,add-ons, etc. configured to provide end-user functionality with the userdevice 300. For example, example programs 316 may include, but notlimited to, a web browser, social networking applications, streamingmedia applications, games, mapping and location applications, electronicmail applications, financial applications, and the like. In a typicalexample, the end-user typically uses one or more of the programs 316along with a network such as the cloud-based system 100.

User Device Application for Traffic Forwarding and Monitoring

FIG. 4 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system 100 illustratingan application 350 on user devices 300 with users 102 configured tooperate through the cloud-based system 100. Different types of userdevices 300 are proliferating, including Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) aswell as IT-managed devices. The conventional approach for a user device300 to operate with the cloud-based system 100 as well as for accessingenterprise resources includes complex policies, VPNs, poor userexperience, etc. The application 350 can automatically forward usertraffic with the cloud-based system 100 as well as ensuring thatsecurity and access policies are enforced, regardless of device,location, operating system, or application. The application 350automatically determines if a user 102 is looking to access the openInternet 104, a SaaS app, or an internal app running in public, private,or the datacenter and routes mobile traffic through the cloud-basedsystem 100. The application 350 can support various cloud services,including ZIA, ZPA, ZDX, etc., allowing the best in class security withzero trust access to internal apps.

The application 350 is configured to auto-route traffic for a seamlessuser experience. This can be protocol as well as application-specific,and the application 350 can route traffic with a nearest or best fitenforcement node 150. Further, the application 350 can detect trustednetworks, allowed applications, etc. and support secure network access.The application 350 can also support the enrollment of the user device300 before accessing applications. The application 350 can uniquelydetect the users 102 based on fingerprinting the user device 300, usingcriteria like device model, platform, operating system, etc. Theapplication 350 can support Mobile Device Management (MDM) functions,allowing IT personnel to deploy and manage the user devices 300seamlessly. This can also include the automatic installation of clientand SSL certificates during enrollment. Finally, the application 350provides visibility into device and app usage of the user 102 of theuser device 300.

The application 350 supports a secure, lightweight tunnel between theuser device 300 and the cloud-based system 100. For example, thelightweight tunnel can be HTTP-based. With the application 350, there isno requirement for PAC files, an IPSec VPN, authentication cookies, orend user 102 setup.

The application 350 is executed on a user device 300. The application350 can dynamically learn all available services, adapts to changingnetwork environments and provides a seamless and secure network resourceaccess to Internet and darknet hosted applications. This is achievedthrough dynamic evaluation of network conditions, enrollment toindividual services, learning individual service protocols, creating alink-local network on the device 300, and establishing multiple securetunnels to cloud services over this local network.

The application 350 is communicatively coupled to an agent manager inthe cloud-based system 100, etc. The application 350 enablescommunication to enterprise private resources via the cloud-based system100 and to the Internet 104 cloud-based system 100. The application 350operates on a client-server model where an Information Technology (IT)admin enables appropriate services for end-users at a CloudAdministration Server (CAS) which can be part of an agent manager. Everyclient can make a unicast request to the agent manager (e.g., CAS) todiscover all enabled services. On acknowledging the response, the clientissues a request to authenticate to each service's cloud IdentityProviders, an enterprise SAML IDP. Authentication can be multi-factordepending upon the nature of the service. On successful authentication,server contacts Mobile Device Management (MDM) or Inventory managementprovider to define access control rights for the device 300. Postauthorization, the device 300 is successfully enrolled into the agentmanager which tracks and monitors all behavior of the device 300.

Post-enrollment, the user device 300 creates a link-local network with aspecific Internet Protocol (IP) configuration, opens a virtual networkinterface to read and write packets and opens multiple listening socketsat custom ports to create secure tunnels to available services throughthe cloud-based system 100. On network changes, the device 300dynamically evaluates reachability to pre-configured domains anddepending upon the result it appropriately transitions all networktunnels, thus providing a seamless experience to the end-user. Further,the device 300 also intelligently learns the conditions which areappropriate for setting up network tunnels to cloud services dependingupon several network heuristics such as reachability to a particularcloud service.

Application—Functionality

The application 350 enables a user to connect to multiple cloud servicesthrough the dynamic discovery of available services followed byauthentication and access as exposed in the corresponding serviceprotocol. The application 350 addresses the unmanageable growth ofmobility and cloud-based services, which have led to a proliferation ofindividual applications for access to individual services. Theapplication 350 can be implemented through a mobile application (“app”)which overcomes the hassle of deploying and managing severalapplications across a gamut of mobile devices, operating systems, andmobile networks to gain secure access to the cloud-based internet orintranet resources. The mobile application can uniquely perform aDynamic evaluation of Network and Service Discovery, Unified Enrollmentto all services, Application dependent service enablement, Serviceprotocol learning, Service Availability through secure network trafficforwarding tunnels, and the like.

Again, enterprises have a strong need to provide secure access to cloudservices to its end users. The growth of mobility and cloud in the ITenterprise has made it impossible for IT admins to deploy individualapplications for individual services. The mobile app associated with thesystems and methods overcomes these limitations through the dynamicdiscovery of available services to the end-user, followed byauthentication and access to individual services. Further, the mobileapp insightfully learns the protocol for each service and establishes asecure tunnel to the service. In essence, the mobile app is one app thatan enterprise may use to provide secure connectivity to the Internet anddiversified internal corporate applications. At the time of userenrollment, the mobile app will discover all services provided by theenterprise cloud and will enroll the user to all of those services. Itwill then set up secure tunnels for each application depending uponwhether the application is internet bound or if it is internal to thecorporate network (intranet).

The mobile app will also discover all applications provided within theenterprise cloud along with a Global Virtual Private Network (GVPN)service and show the available services to end-user. EndpointApplications today provide one service for a specific network function(such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) to a corporate network, websecurity, antivirus to access the Internet). The mobile app can be usedto enable all these services with single enrollment. The mobile app willprovide services to darknet applications along with securing theInternet traffic. The mobile app can set up a local network on themobile device.

Generally, the application 350 can support two broad functionalcategories—1) dynamic service discovery and access controls and 2)service availability. The dynamic service discovery and access controlsinclude service configuration by the administrator, service discovery bythe device 300, service acknowledgment and authentication, serviceauthorization and enrollment, and the like. For service configuration bythe administrator, the IT admin can provide cloud service details at acentralized knowledge server, such as part of the agent manager, theenterprise asset management, etc. The cloud service details include theservice type (e.g., Internet/intranet), network protocol, identityprovider, server address, port, and access controls, etc.

For service discovery by the device 300, the device 300 can issue anetwork request to a known Cloud Administrative Server (CAS) in theagent manager to discover all enabled services for a user. If a specificcloud server is not known a priori, the device 300 can broadcast therequest to multiple clouds, e.g., through the agent managercommunicating to the enterprise asset management, the enterprise SAMLIDP, etc.

For the service acknowledgment and authentication, the device 300acknowledges the response of service discovery and initiates theauthentication flow. The device 300 learns the authentication protocolthrough the service discovery configuration and performs authenticationof a configured nature at the enterprise SAML IDP. For the serviceauthorization and enrollment, post successful authentication, the CAS,authorizes the device 300 and fetches the access control information bycontacting an MDM/Inventory Solutions Provider. Depending upon the usercontext and the nature of access, the CAS enrolls the device 300 intoseveral cloud services and informs the cloud services that the user hasbeen enrolled for access.

The service availability includes link-local network setup, a trafficinterceptor, and dynamic traffic forwarding tunnels to authorizedservices. The link-local network setup, post-enrollment, has the device300 create a local network on the device 300 itself to manage variousnetworking functionalities. For the traffic interceptor, the device 300intercepts and evaluates all Internet traffic. Allowed traffic istunneled to the cloud services such as in the security cloud 408,whereas the rest of the traffic is denied as per enterprise policies.For the dynamic traffic forwarding tunnels to authorized services,depending upon the evaluation, the device 300 splits the traffic intothe different tunnel to individual cloud services such as in thesecurity cloud 408.

The application 350 is a single application that provides secureconnectivity to the Internet 104 and darknet hosted applications, suchas the private enterprise resources. The application 350 communicatessecurely to the agent manager, which is controlled by an IT admin. Theapplication 350 learns available services and authenticates with eachservice. Post proper enrollment, the application 350 securely connectsto cloud services by means of network tunnels.

Again, the application 350 is an example application, such as ZApp fromZscaler, Inc. Other types of enterprise applications are alsocontemplated herein. In general, the application 350 is executed on theuser device 300, typically in the background. The application 350enables some cloud-based functionality with the user device 300 and thecloud-based system 100. Further, issues with the application 350 arecritical to resolve to ensure connectivity and access to the cloud-basedsystem 100.

Enterprise Application Troubleshooting Process

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an enterprise application troubleshootingprocess 500. The enterprise application troubleshooting process 500contemplates operation as a computer-implemented method on the userdevice 300 and can be embodied as computer-readable code stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The enterpriseapplication troubleshooting process 500 includes providing functionalityfor the user device while operating in background on the user device 300(step 502); responsive to an issue with the functionality of theapplication 350 and presenting a user of the user device 300 a list of aplurality of issue types for selection thereof, receiving a selectionfrom the user of an issue type for the issue (step 504) and collectingdata from the user device based on the selected issue type (step 506).The enterprise application troubleshooting process 500 can furtherinclude transmitting the collected data to a back-end server fortroubleshooting of the issue.

The functionality can be one or more of monitoring, antivirus, firewall,and Virtual Private Networking (VPN). The functionality can be performedwith a cloud-based system 100 over the network, i.e., the Internet. Theplurality of issue types can include any of Domain Name System (DNS)resolution, system overheating, system slowness, abnormal battery drain,and system crashes. The collected data is different for each of theplurality of issue types. The collected data can be captured while theissue is occurring to assist in troubleshooting thereof.

Thus, when a user of the user device 300 is having a problem with theapplication 350, the user can select a problem category to report theissue. For example, the plurality of issue types can be the problemcategory and can be displayed via a User Interface (UI) on the userdevice 300. The user device 300 can gather context-specific informationbased on the selected problem category and then include the collectedcontext-specific information with a report of the issue. Advantageously,this approach significantly improves the troubleshooting process andmore importantly captures data where it may not be possible topredictably reproduce the issue.

Use Cases

Again, the application 350 can always run on the user device 300 in thebackground. For example, the application 350 could be a monitoringsoftware, antivirus app, firewall, VPN client, etc. For example, a userfacing delay in Domain Name System (DNS) resolution can select theassociated problem while reporting the issue. The application 350 wouldcollect nslookup or ping output and would attach this information in theissue reporting. Similarly, for system overheating, the applicationwould collect CPU usage, memory profile, etc. The problem categorieswould be based on the functionality of the application and the possiblenetwork/system areas it interacts with.

In an embodiment, a user is experiencing slowness in the browsing, andthe websites are taking a long time to load. The user suspects thisissue to be related to the network app X running on the system. The userwould report the issue in the network app X under “Slow browsing” tab.The network app X would collect the data under various heads which couldimpact the browsing experience of the user such as Traceroute, ping,Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header traces, packet capture, etcwould be relevant to troubleshoot this issue. The data using all theseutilities/commands would be collected at the real-time of reporting andsent to the enterprise support.

In another embodiment, a user is experiencing the user device 300heating up intermittently or when performing a particular task. The usersuspects it to be related to the network app and tries to report theissue under “System heating up” tab. The network app X would collectpacket capture, process list, network adapter statistics, systeminformation, etc.

In a further embodiment, the user is facing an abnormal battery drain onthe system. The user suspects that it is caused by the network app X,and therefore reports the issue under “Battery Drain” tab. The networkapp X would collect system information, CPU and memory per process,system event logs. This would help support in identifying the actualprocess on the system that is utilizing high resources and causing theproblem.

In a further embodiment, the user is normally running the network app Xon the user device 300 and suddenly faces “Blue Screen of Death” (BSoD).The user wants to know to know the root cause and suspects the networkapp X to be the reason. The user would report the issue under “BlueScreen.” The network app X would now collect event logs, systeminformation, etc.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a list of problems 600 and a mapping ofdata 602 collected based thereon. For example, the problems 600 caninclude slow browsing, system heat up, no disk space, hanging or generalslowness, battery drain, HTTPS/certificate issue, no Internet, bluescreen, application crash, or other.

The data 602 can be, for example, traceroute, ping, memory map, systeminformation, packet capture, sampling data, HTTP traces, CPU and memoryinformation per process, nslookup, process list, IP config/networkadaptor statistics, system event logs, etc. The present disclosureincludes an example mapping of what data 602 is captured for whichproblem 600. For other, or unknown, all of the data 602 can be captured.

Packet Dump

It has been determined the application 350, as well as other types ofmobile applications, tends to behave abnormally on network changes,network connectivity issues, on waking up the device 300 after a longtime, slowness issues, etc. Application level logging is not sufficientto help the support team debug the wide range of issues. Applicationlevel logging is based on data from the application 350 alone. There isa requirement for extensive network level debugging to identify the rootcause. Without this information, a support engineer has to conduct alive debug to understand the user's network conditions and then simulatethe user's network infrastructure in-house and try to reproduce theissue to identify the root cause. This is inefficient, time consuming,and conditions may be different.

To solve this problem, a packet dump utility is included in theapplication 350, as well as in other enterprise network applications.This will dump the network packets [in PCAP format] at the time issueoccurs, which can be later used by support engineer for troubleshooting.The support engineer would require packet captures (PACPs) totroubleshoot for slowness, connectivity problems, packets drop,retransmission, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) handshake failures,and many more such issues. As is known in the art, PCAP is anApplication Programming Interface (API) for capturing network traffic.PCAP is an abbreviation of “Packet Capture.”

When a user, via the user device 300 and the application 350, is facingsome problem such as slow browsing, connectivity issues, etc, the usercan go to the application 350 and select/enable a “Start Packet Dump”button from the UI. The application 350 (firewall, VPN, etc.) alreadyintercepts the packets. The utility will collect the on-going trafficfrom the application 350 and dump those into a PCAP format with metadatasuch as the time of capture. The user can then tap the “Stop PacketDump” button on the application 350 to stop. The utility willautomatically store the packets in a file on the user device 350. Thiscan be used by support engineer to troubleshoot and find what the actualpoint of failure was.

The context specific packet captures would be helpful in debugging theproblem and finding the root cause without requiring user to reproduceit and support engineer to conduct any additional session with the user.Since a lot of issues are not always reproducible predictably, this hasan added advantage of capturing the packets when the issue is happening.

The packet dump has been described with reference to the application350. However, the packet dump can be integrated to any networkapplication already intercepting traffic, including the application 350,running on any mobile operating system (like android, iOS, etc), savesthe network packets in the standard PCAP format in an output file. Thepackets can be dumped at a virtual interface or tunnel extensioninterface provided by the operating system. This file could be opened inany traditional network tool, like Wireshark, capable of reading thePCAP format, for debugging issues occurring on mobile devices.

Note, iOS does not support a packet trace directly. A workaround caninclude an external computer recording a packet trace on an attached iOSdevice using the Remote Virtual Interface (RVI) mechanism. Without thisdisclosure, if a customer with the application 350 complains about anynetwork issue on an iOS device, customer support advises the customer toconnect their iOS device to a Mac machine and then capture packets onthe virtual interface that shows on the Mac (corresponding to interfacethat iOS uses to share the Internet). This is cumbersome and mostlyinfeasible as not every customer has access to a Mac machine.

Procedure to Debug Issues from Captured Packets

The packet captures can be used to glean all sorts of useful informationfrom an application as it runs. It will show all of the network callsthat are occurring under the hood of an application. The capturedpackets are helpful in debugging a variety of issues such as slow DNSresolution, slow HTTP communication, connection close issues, SSLhandshake failure, SSL interception issues, packet fragmentation issues,authentication issues, etc.

Once a user faces a problem, the user can run the packet dump utilitywhich would save the network packets in a file. It is also possible toapply filters to show only traffic from specific applications, and thenapply another filter to show only traffic to other machines. In anembodiment, the packet dump utility captures all packets. In anotherembodiment, the packet dump utility can capture a certain type ofpackets. That is, the filtering can be on all of the packets in atroubleshooting application, or the filtering can be on the front endduring the packet capture. The filtering allows a troubleshooter to lookfor specific things. The filters can be on the basis of source IP orport, destination IP or port, protocol like DNS, HTTP, TCP, UDP, SSL,etc.

If the user experiences delay in accessing websites on the user device300, this utility integrated in the enterprise network application 350can collect network traffic and would provide enough information of DNSand HTTP packets to debug the problem. Similarly, in a company networkdoing SSL interception, this can cause mobile apps to break due to SSLissues. SSL interception (also TLS or HTTPS interception) is the processof encrypted internet communication between a client (e.g., the device300) and a server. The interception can be executed between the senderand the receiver and vice versa (receiver to sender)—it's the sametechnique used in man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks, without the consentof both entities. This interception is performed for inspection, such asvia the system 100. In such cases as well, the captured packets can showthe SSL certificates, ciphers, etc. used in the communication and helpdebug the problem. In another example, the enterprise application 350using UDP based tunnels can cause mobile apps to break/slow down due topacket fragmentation issues. With this utility, it is easy todebug/detect this kind of problem.

Background Applications

A user can use an application that is always running on the user device300 in the background. This application could be a monitoring software,antivirus app, firewall, VPN client, etc.

There are a range of issues that this user could run into due to thisapplication. When the user faces an issue, the user reaches out toreport the problem so that it can be looked into by the enterprisesupport of the application. The support engineer will then troubleshootthe problem based on the reported description or application logs. Butdepending on the problem, some of the information may not be availablein the logs or required real time information when the problem was seen.The support engineer would need to ask the user to collect relevantinformation in the future and report back. This is not efficient andcauses additional overhead. The situation worsens when the issue issporadic and not reproducible at will.

In this solution, we propose to include real time monitoring datawhenever a user reaches out to report an issue. The application recordsimportant information at any point of time for the last 15 minutes andprovides that information along with the logs. For example, the networkissues require packet captures when the issue happens. This would bedifficult to capture later in time but the application keeps track oflast 15 mins captures at any point and makes that available. In anotherinstance when the application happens to crash, the state of the machinegets lost once the user resumes activity. But our solution recordssystem statistics like CPU, memory, battery, process dump at regularintervals and makes that available for analysis.

CONCLUSION

It will be appreciated that some embodiments described herein mayinclude one or more generic or specialized processors (“one or moreprocessors”) such as microprocessors; Central Processing Units (CPUs);Digital Signal Processors (DSPs): customized processors such as NetworkProcessors (NPs) or Network Processing Units (NPUs), Graphics ProcessingUnits (GPUs), or the like; Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs); andthe like along with unique stored program instructions (including bothsoftware and firmware) for control thereof to implement, in conjunctionwith certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functionsof the methods and/or systems described herein. Alternatively, some orall functions may be implemented by a state machine that has no storedprogram instructions, or in one or more Application-Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certainof the functions are implemented as custom logic or circuitry. Ofcourse, a combination of the aforementioned approaches may be used. Forsome of the embodiments described herein, a corresponding device inhardware and optionally with software, firmware, and a combinationthereof can be referred to as “circuitry configured or adapted to,”“logic configured or adapted to,” etc. perform a set of operations,steps, methods, processes, algorithms, functions, techniques, etc. ondigital and/or analog signals as described herein for the variousembodiments.

Moreover, some embodiments may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code storedthereon for programming a computer, server, appliance, device,processor, circuit, etc. each of which may include a processor toperform functions as described and claimed herein. Examples of suchcomputer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, ahard disk, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, aRead-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), anErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, and the like. Whenstored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium, software caninclude instructions executable by a processor or device (e.g., any typeof programmable circuitry or logic) that, in response to such execution,cause a processor or the device to perform a set of operations, steps,methods, processes, algorithms, functions, techniques, etc. as describedherein for the various embodiments.

Although the present disclosure has been illustrated and describedherein with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examplesthereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functionsand/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments andexamples are within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, arecontemplated thereby, and are intended to be covered by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable code stored thereon for programming a userdevice to execute an enterprise application that performs steps of:providing functionality for the user device while operating inbackground on the user device including providing secure connectivitywith a cloud-based system over a network; receiving a request from auser for troubleshooting an issue, the request being submitted throughthe enterprise application; responsive to the user request fortroubleshooting an issue, collecting packets via an external computerrecording a packet trace, the packets including context-specificinformation, the context-specific information being based on theselected issue type received from the user; and providing the collectedpackets, including the context-specific information, for debugging ofthe issue type.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 1, wherein the packets are collected over a time interval, andthe time interval is a set amount of time, and each collected packet isdeleted at the expiration of the time interval.
 3. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein thecomputer-readable code stored thereon is further programmed performssteps of: responsive to an issue with the functionality of theenterprise application, presenting a user of the user device a list of aplurality of issue types, related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication, for selection thereof and receiving a selection from theuser of an issue type for the issue; and collecting data, includingcontext-specific information, from the user device, the context-specificinformation being based on the selected issue type received from theuser and being related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 3, wherein the collected data is different for each of theplurality of issue types.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the enterprise application is one ofone or more of monitoring, antivirus, firewall, and Virtual PrivateNetworking (VPN) with the cloud-based system.
 6. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the issue includesany of Domain Name System (DNS) resolution, system overheating, systemslowness, abnormal battery drain, and system crashes.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein thecollected packets are in a PCAP format.
 8. A user device comprising: anetwork interface communicatively coupled to a network; a processorcommunicatively coupled to the network interface; and memory storingcomputer-executable instructions for an enterprise application that,when executed, cause the processor to perform steps of providingfunctionality for the user device while operating in background on theuser device including providing secure connectivity with a cloud-basedsystem over a network; receiving a request from a user fortroubleshooting an issue, the request being submitted through theenterprise application; responsive to the user request fortroubleshooting an issue, collecting packets via an external computerrecording a packet trace, the packets including context-specificinformation, the context-specific information being based on theselected issue type received from the user; and providing the collectedpackets, including the context-specific information, for debugging ofthe issue type.
 9. The user device of claim 8, wherein the packets arecollected over a time interval, and the time interval is a set amount oftime, and each collected packet is deleted at the expiration of the timeinterval.
 10. The user device of claim 8, wherein the steps furtherinclude: responsive to an issue with the functionality of the enterpriseapplication, presenting a user of the user device a list of a pluralityof issue types, related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication, for selection thereof and receiving a selection from theuser of an issue type for the issue; and collecting data, includingcontext-specific information, from the user device, the context-specificinformation being based on the selected issue type received from theuser and being related to the functionality of the enterpriseapplication.
 11. The user device of claim 10, wherein the collected datais different for each of the plurality of issue types.
 12. The userdevice of claim 8, wherein the enterprise application is one of one ormore of monitoring, antivirus, firewall, and Virtual Private Networking(VPN) with the cloud-based system.
 13. The user device of claim 8,wherein the issue includes any of Domain Name System (DNS) resolution,system overheating, system slowness, abnormal battery drain, and systemcrashes.
 14. The user device of claim 8, wherein the collected packetsare in a PCAP format.
 15. A method implemented by an enterpriseapplication comprising steps of: providing functionality for the userdevice while operating in background on the user device includingproviding secure connectivity with a cloud-based system over a network;receiving a request from a user for troubleshooting an issue, therequest being submitted through the enterprise application; responsiveto the user request for troubleshooting an issue, collecting packets viaan external computer recording a packet trace, the packets includingcontext-specific information, the context-specific information beingbased on the selected issue type received from the user; and providingthe collected packets, including the context-specific information, fordebugging of the issue type.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thepackets are collected over a time interval, and the time interval is aset amount of time, and each collected packet is deleted at theexpiration of the time interval.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein thesteps further include: responsive to an issue with the functionality ofthe enterprise application, presenting a user of the user device a listof a plurality of issue types, related to the functionality of theenterprise application, for selection thereof and receiving a selectionfrom the user of an issue type for the issue; and collecting data,including context-specific information, from the user device, thecontext-specific information being based on the selected issue typereceived from the user and being related to the functionality of theenterprise application.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein theenterprise application is one of one or more of monitoring, antivirus,firewall, and Virtual Private Networking (VPN) with the cloud-basedsystem.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the issue includes any ofDomain Name System (DNS) resolution, system overheating, systemslowness, abnormal battery drain, and system crashes.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the collected packets are in a PCAP format.